Technological innovations could help us achieve immortality and preserve the future of the human race

THE idea of creating a ‘digital you’ that lives on after you die may sound like something straight out of Black Mirror but the wheels are already in motion — as are developments to ensure the future survival of our race should doomsday descend.

The Eternime app, for example, which is still in testing mode, uses social media posts to build a digital avatar your family and friends can interact with after you’re dead. So far, so creepy, right? The app features in a major new exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum called The Future Starts Here, where the digital afterlife is just one of the technological innovations that could — in theory — keep us living forever…

The full article appeared in the 18 May 2018 print edition of Metro and can also be viewed in the e-edition.

Like this:

Polaroids are well and truly back. Instant photography has been bubbling along for a few years but a wave of nostalgia inspired by the likes of Netflix drama Stranger Things, coupled with a brand new Polaroid camera, is putting the distinctive square snaps back on the map.

The story of instant photos goes back to 1937, when Edwin Land founded Polaroid. The company popularised instant snaps but went bankrupt in 2001 and scrapped instant film production in 2008 as digital cameras took over.

Shortly afterwards a brand known as The Impossible Project bought Polaroid’s last factory and film stock. Since acquiring the Polaroid name this year, it has relaunched as Polaroid Originals with a new retro-styled camera, the OneStep 2 (£109.99).

Designed to resemble the original OneStep from 1977, the new camera takes both classic 600 film and Polaroid’s new i-Type film, and has a built-in flash, a self-timer for selfies and a 60-day battery life. But what exactly is it about instant photography that makes it so appealing?

The full article appeared in the 24 November 2017 issue of Metro and can be also be viewed in the e-edition.

Athletes who repeatedly suffer blows to the head face brain injuries and in the most extreme cases, death. Now, a new study has identified a biomarker that could be used to diagnosis a brain disease that affects athletes with repeated head injuries.

CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), which can currently only be diagnosed after death, is a progressive degenerative brain condition found in athletes who have suffered repeated trauma to the head, including concussions. The condition has a number of behavioural symptoms including aggressiveness, depression and memory loss.

The disease is especially prevalent in American football players with a recent study from Boston University finding signs of CTE in 99 per cent of brains from deceased American football players…

You can read the full article at Wired UK(originally published 11 October 2017).